"No Easy Day” Just the Tip of the Unauthorized Information Iceberg; Another Book Called into Question

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Despite the fact that the book did not undergo prepublication review from the Pentagon, Kindle version of Pete Mitchell's book "Lead or Fail: The Essential Principles for Peak Performance", is available for free download at http://amazon.com.

Lead or Fail

All the missions and tactics included in Lead or Fail were left generalized enough so that no classified material would be released to the public. I don’t see how the Pentagon can claim that this book reveals any sensitive or classified material.

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Right on the heels of the biggest uproar in US history over the unreviewed publishing of the firsthand account from one of the Navy SEALs on the mission that got Osama bin Laden, Pete Mitchell, author of "Lead or Fail: The Essential Principles For Peak Performance Through Leading and Influencing Others" (Anderson-Noble) comes clean that his book didn’t go through prepublication review either. Mitchell emphatically denies that there is any threat to National Security and insists that he won’t remove book from publication.

“All the missions and tactics included in Lead or Fail were left generalized enough so that no classified material would be released to the public. I don’t see how the Pentagon can claim that this book reveals any sensitive or classified material. It just isn’t true.” Stated Mitchell.

The author of "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden" (Dutton), Navy SEAL Mark Owen (pseudonym), did not seek prepublication review prior to his book's release. This action has put him square in the crosshairs of a very upset Pentagon and White House while putting the government’s inconsistent enforcement of prepublication review in the spotlight. Mitchell contends that while Lead or Fail does contain military tactics, missions and schools, because he never served in a position that required him to sign confidentiality agreement with the government, he was and is free to publish anything under the First Amendment.

"You would have to be crazy to put Lead or Fail in the same category as No Easy Day," stated Mitchell. "No Easy Day is a firsthand telling of the final mission that got bin Laden. Lead or Fail is a leadership book used as source material for leadership training for executives, business owners, and yes, military officers. That hardly puts them in the same ball park."

Lead or Fail, is not a military book, even though it includes military missions, tactics, and schools. "The missions, tactics and military schools referenced are done so with a deliberate purpose to expose the core underlying leadership trait." continued Mitchell. "The reason so many military missions are retold is because the military has found ways to turn teenagers into fighting men that others follow. So much of that knowledge and information can be applied to the civilian world."

Regarding No Easy Day Mitchell noted, “I read it. It's fantastic. I can't imagine how anyone can insist there are any secrets in that book.”